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Yombe Nkisi Nkonde "Nail Fetish" Guardian Figure, DRC / Congo #176
Yombe Nkisi Nkonde "Nail Fetish" Guardian Figure, DRC / Congo #176 Yombe Nkisi Nkonde "Nail Fetish" Guardian Figure, DRC / Congo #176 Yombe Nkisi Nkonde "Nail Fetish" Guardian Figure, DRC / Congo #176 Yombe Nkisi Nkonde "Nail Fetish" Guardian Figure, DRC / Congo #176 Yombe Nkisi Nkonde "Nail Fetish" Guardian Figure, DRC / Congo #176 Yombe Nkisi Nkonde "Nail Fetish" Guardian Figure, DRC / Congo #176 Yombe Nkisi Nkonde "Nail Fetish" Guardian Figure, DRC / Congo #176 Yombe Nkisi Nkonde "Nail Fetish" Guardian Figure, DRC / Congo #176 Yombe Nkisi Nkonde "Nail Fetish" Guardian Figure, DRC / Congo #176

Yombe Nkisi Nkonde "Nail Fetish" Guardian Figure, DRC / Congo #176

$ 2,820.00 $ 1,425.00

  • Yombe Nkisi Nkonde "Nail Fetish" Guardian Figure, DRC / Congo #176
  • Nkisi or Nkishi (plural varies: Minkisi, Zinkisi, or Nkisi) are Spirits or an Object that a Spirit inhabits. This title is frequently applied to a variety of Objects used throughout the Congo Basin in Central Africa that are believed to contain Spiritual Powers or Spirits themselves.
  • Nkondi (plural forms Minkondi, Zinkondi) are a subclass of Minkisi that are considered aggressive. Because many of the Nkondi collected in the 19th Century were activated by having nails driven into them, they were often called "Nail Fetishes" in travel writing, Museum Catalogs, and Art History literature. Many Nkondi also feature reflective surfaces, such as mirrors, on their stomach areas or the eyes, which are held to be the Means of Vision in the Spirit World. Although they can be made in many forms, the ones featuring a human statue with nails are the best described in Anthropological and Scholarly Literature.
  • Nkondi are invoked to Search out Wrongdoing, Enforce Oaths, and Cause or Cure Sicknesses. Perhaps the most common use was the Locating and Punishing of Criminals, by hunting down Wrongdoers and to Avenging their Crimes. An Oath Taker may declare him or herself vulnerable to the disease caused by an Nkondi should he or she violate the Oath. People who fall sick with diseases known to be associated with a particular Nkondi may need to consult the Nganga responsible for mediating with that Spirit to determine how to be cured.
  • In the Kingdom of Kongo, the term "Nganga" was the name for a Village Shaman/ Herbalist/ Healer who possessed the Skill to communicate with the Other World, as well as Divining the cause of illness, misfortune and social stress and preparing measures to address them, often by Supernatural Means but sometimes Natural Medicine as well. Nganga were also responsible for charging Nkisi, or Physical Objects intended to be the Receptacle for Spiritual Forces.
  • Although Nkisi Nkondi have probably been made since at least the 16th Century, the specifically Nailed Figures, which have been the object of collection in Western Museums, nailed Nkondi were probably made primarily in the Northern parts of the Kongo Cultural Zone from the19th up until Late 20th Centuries.
  • Materials: Wood, Nails
  • Powerful Nail Fetish Figure from the Yombe Ethnic Group of DR Congo.
  • A "Nkisi" Figure refers to the Spiritual Nature of the figure where Nkondi refers to the Power of the Figure itself. Spiritual and Religious Specialists – along with these Figures – become the Village Protector, Legal Expert, Healer of the Sick, Revengers of Wrongdoing, and are even able to End Disasters.
  • This particular Nkisi Nkondi, gets it power from medicinal substances put in attachments and "bundles" on the Figure's body. Such medicines attract the Spirit Power and – in turn – the Power is used on behalf of the owner or client of the figure. The power can be either negative or positive.
  • Each nail represents a Restitution Oath, an Agreement, Episode in the Village History, or the number of Crimes involved in the Revenge.
    Good condition with traces of wear and tear.
  • Measurements:  54×20×18 cm
    • artifacts